North Bridge Tavern

Sports Page Bar & Grille has reopened in Sarasota under new ownership.

A former bartender at the original Sports Page & Grille, which was open on Main Street for 25 years, opened it next to North Bridge Tavern on Siesta Drive. The owner received permission from Kenny Barr and Robert Richards, the Sports Page bar and restaurant’s original owners, to use the Sports Page name and menu.

“We hoped to reopen the bar downtown but the city gave us too many problems,” Barr said. “It was obvious they didn’t want us downtown anymore.”

The new Sports Page is now open at 2117 Siesta Dr., near Southgate Mall. The new owner, who could not be reached for comment, purchased a small restaurant next door to the North Bridge Tavern, and renamed it the Sports Page Grill.

The original bar and liquor store in downtown Sarasota closed in April when a real estate developer demolished the building as apart of a future condominium project proposed on that site. The property was sold to developer Tom Mannausa in 2011. Sports Page Bar & Grille operated as the only bar with a liquor store attached to it in downtown Sarasota.

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